Mandalorian Mercs ISSUE 2 MERCS COUNCIL RESHUFFLE We introduce you to your new Council members. BUILDING A CLAN Dana Black’s mission to form a Dutch Clan. REGIONAL LOGOS Why Euro RC, Niabi, re-introduced an old tradition. MAY THE FOURTH AWARDS Mercs CAO discusses what’s up for grabs! PLANNING FOR The Mandalorian Mercs is a worldwide Star Wars costuming organization comprised of and operated by Star Wars fans and volunteers. It is the elite Mandalorian cos- tuming organization. Star Wars, its characters, costumes, and all associated items are the intellectual property of Lucasfilm. ©2013 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™ All rights reserved. Used under authorization. welcome Greetings Mando Mercs members, friends, and fans, It seems like yesterday we were putting the finishing touches to issue #1, and now we’re releasing issue #2. We’ve had many developments in the Mercs and Star Wars since last issue; Episode VII director announce- ment, ‘3D Episodes on hold’ announcement, Membership Tiers, Verd’ika Corps kids club, Celebration Europe...the list could go on. 6 years ago this March, a small website and forum was launched to bring existing Mandalorian costumers into an organized and represent- ed group among the Star Wars community. From that small handful of people, Mandalorian Mercs has become home to thousands of mem- bers and fans around the world. My goal is to ensure that your Mercs family is here for your benefit, and that our home is a fixture in the Star Wars Universe. With your help, and the tireless help of others...we’ve been able to accomplish that goal thus far. If you’re a new reader, then I challenge you to pick up the Mercs’ banner and join us as we venture into the uncertain and exciting future of Star Wars. For Mandalore, and for you! Tom Hutchens Mandalore the Uniter Founder/CO MMCC Contents 2 - Welcome 8 - Member Highlight Mandalore the Uniter introduces the magazine. BCM talks to German Mercs Leader Ratiin Adenn. 3 - Point of Order 9 - Focus on Organisation CAO Pointoforigin discusses the May 4th Awards. Europe Regional Commander, Niabi, discusses his 4 - The Road to Celebration Europe reasons for bringing back an old tradition. A quick synopsis of all the work that goes into orga- 10 - Bounty Hunter nising a big event. Jeremy Bulloch addresses the Mercs in style. 5 - Building a new Chapter 11 - Let us Welcome We talk to Dana Black about bringing the Dutch We introduce you to the newest members of the members together to form a clan. Mercs Council. 7 - In the Workshop 15 - Dear Gabby Saz and other builders discuss the 5 essential tools Mercs members have their troubles and concerns for costuming. answered. Battle cry has a UK English Editor but all US English contributions have not been changed. The Mercs are an International club where all cultures and languages are respected. The Mandalorian Mercs is a worldwide Star Wars costuming organization comprised of and operated by Star Wars fans and volunteers. It is the elite Mandalorian cos- tuming organization. Star Wars, its characters, costumes, and all associated items are the intellectual property of Lucasfilm. ©2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™ All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Mandalorian Mercs Battle Cry2 POINTOF ORDER MAY 4TH AWARDS Since taking on the role of Clan Administration Officer in late 2011, I’ve seen many changes in this club, and lots of expansion. Part of the CAO role includes keeping track of all the ‘Invasions’ for the club, as well as keeping an eye on sta- tistics and running Clan elections. Between the months of May and December 2012, the Mercs recorded 425 Invasions worldwide. I also oversee the Mercs ‘May the 4th’ Awards, unique to any Star Wars cos- tuming club. As May 4th is such a significant day for all of us in Star Wars fan- dom it seemed appropriate to run it then. The awards detail achievements of individuals and Clans relating to attended invasions (“Ground Pounder” for individuals, “Hard Contact” for Clans), the number of photos a member has appeared in in an official capacity (“Poster- boy”), Clans with the most new members (“Recruitment”), milestone awards for the total number of invasions over a member’s Mercs career, and member- voted, one-off novelty awards such as “Most Scarred” and “Terrifying”. Since last year’s awards, the Mercs have more than a hundred extra faces to participate, now 700 members in total. Which awards will you or your Clan pick up this time around? Will you achieve “Ground Pounder” status with the num- ber of times you’ve Invaded? Will you display your Clan’s ability to bring in new members with the Recruitment award? Or will you achieve the novelty awards for this year, with brand new awards on the table? Find out this May the 4th! THE IMPORTANCE OF ADMINISTRATION The Mercs is an unique group. It’s all about fun but it Administration Officer. is also one of the hardest working costume groups out there. Whilst the club offers incentives (and bragging rights) to those who represent the club the most, it also has Since its inception the Mercs has grown in member- to deal with the members who do not live up to the ship, set the bar for canon Mandalorian costuming, agreement. This usually results in members being catered for members’ imaginations, created a charity retired and losing their membership privileges, mean- and ways for every single member to excel past our ing retired members will have to re-apply to gain their basic costume requirements. membership back. As the club grows, so does the need to ensure that Whilst clan leadership is responsible for reporting, each member enjoys the rights of the club and cel- every member should ensure that their troops have ebrates their involvement. been reported to the CAO, using simple methods like a logging thread on your clan boards to keeping an excel Apart from the Freelancer Guild, all members are spreadsheet with all your troops. involved with a regional clan. This clan’s leadership are responsible for members’ administration, ensuring Remember, if troops haven’t been reported, the club the club’s rules are enforced, Costume Requirements cannot acknowledge your participation. are adhered to and they also report yearly to the Clan 3 Mandalorian Mercs Battle Cry THE ROAD TO Celebration Europe could not have come at a better time for the Mercs. The UK Vok’chi clan had been one of the founding clans of the Mercs and for a long time were the only bastion in Europe when the first Celebration Europe arrived in London. But a lot has changed since then, three new European Clans have grown (and looking for an excuse to get together) and a fourth looking for that spark to gain enough members to become an official clan of the Mercs. So it seemed like a dream come true when Lucasfilm announced 26th July as the first day European Mercs would unite. But it wasn’t the easiest of roads, plenty of discussion and planning needed to be done before the Mercs would be ready to show Europe just how far they had come and it all needed to be done in less than a year! The Mercs had to begin by declaring that they would wish to attend the show as an exhibitor, receiving the ap- plication forms, the Mandalore and the PR Officer filled the forms in and declared the members who would be in charge of the table. Members of Jai’galaar Clan put forward the proposed design given to Lucasfilm Ltd. The Mercs have included several opportunities for fans to have photographs with the Mercs and a scene for them to appear in front of. Behind the scenes, the German Clan also arranged the block booking with a local hotel not too far away from the event and members began to talk amongst themselves about how they could help the Mercs achieve the set up. The PR Officer was invited to a cos- tume group roundtable with Lucas- film and several of the other Cos- tuming clubs from around Europe to discuss issues like a proposed parade and who would be appropriate as compère for events. Currently the Mercs are waiting on their given floor space so plans can be altered and based on the impres- sive efforts as Celebration VI, if the Mercs will be allocated their re- quested floor space they will have some very big shoes to fill. Clan officers have been invited to a dedicated forum to help organise amongst themselves, and quite a bit of work has already been done, including a panel proposal, the Han Solo in Carbonite is being build and several sections of the set up idea. As soon as we know we know our allocation from Lucasfilm, that’s when the real work starts. Mandalorian Mercs Battle Cry4 BUILDING A NEW CHAPTER Every Merc who has been involved in building a squad or clan knows how hard it is to begin from nothing. It certainly harks back to the troubled, yet exciting early days that our first Mercs dealt with. Building a clan takes dedication and sacrifice, as well as good negotiation skills, not only with up coming members, but other costuming clubs as well and the Netherlands is no exception. You have to take opportunities as they come and Dana Black has used the motivation of Celebration Europe II to encour- age Dutch members to complete their kits, with the real prospect that, come 26th July, Europe will be showing off its newest clan to the world.